If You've Got Enough Nerve
by astrophilic
Summary: George never could bring himself to tell Freddie about his twin, and Freddie truly didn't mean to go back in time, but due to an incident involving Chocolate Frogs, James Sirius, and a rather shiny locket, Freddie finds out about who he was named after the hard way.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Here is the repost (and rewrite) of the fanfiction previously called My Dad's Twin; I do hope this version is better. I'm not English, but I may use words such as bloke or mate... *awkward cough* Feel free to tell me when it gets unbearable.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling.

* * *

"Fred Weasley, stop right there!"

Freddie froze in mid-step. The eleven-year-old redhead let out an anxious huff of air and eased his cart to a stop on the busy platform, wondering if he should have just continued on and pretended he had not heard. He turned around reluctantly, attempting to project an air of casual innocence.

His gaze settled on the warm cocoa skin tones of his mother. "Mum!" Freddie half-laughed, forcing himself not to wring his hands nervously. He shifted slightly to the left and caught sight of his nine-year-old sister behind his mother. Roxanne had her dark-haired head tilted inquisitively, with her lips quirked into a knowing smile full of mischief.

Freddie tried not to scowl at her, feeling infinitely more nervous. Roxanne was rather smart for her age, and knew him well enough to know when he was up to something. Like right now.

"Don't rush ahead like that," Angelina Weasley scolded him, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulders. "Have you got everything? Your owl, your books?" Her warm brown eyes roamed over her son's cart.

Freddie tried to look as angelic as possible, but that trick usually worked more for Roxanne and James Sirius, Roxanne with her sweet, eye-crinkling smile and James with his patented I-Am-Most-Charming-And-You-Know-It grin.

Freddie looked as much like George as James looked like Uncle Harry, which made people, especially ones who went to school with his father, eye him with suspicion every time he shared candy with their children or got too near to a breakable object. It made Freddie wonder about the extent of the pranks his father had done that they'd be suspicious of even his children.

He shifted, hoping to Merlin that Angeline hadn't noticed the extra bag squeezed in the cart. He had carefully placed it behind his trunk, but maybe her all-knowing maternal gaze had caught onto it somehow. He inched his body to the side, trying to look inconspicuous while doing so.

Roxanne hummed at him, narrowing her eyes playfully.

Freddie ignored her in favor of slowly raising his gaze to his mother's face, and immediately looked down. He had probably failed at being inconspicuous, because his mother was staring at him expectantly, as if he should up and confess right then and there. He almost did, and tearfully at that, before realizing she was simply waiting for an answer.

Angelina raised an eyebrow.

Freddie almost twitched. "Yes, yes, everything's fine and dandy! You've checked my things four times last night too, if you don't remember."

It was a good thing she had not checked so well this morning after Freddie had sneakily hidden the bag, or else his plans with James for today would have gone down the drain.

"Hmm." Angelina looked at him with _both_ of her eyebrows raised, her way of telling him that she noticed something was up. _Frankly,_ Freddie ranted in his mind rather hysterically, if his mother hadn't noticed his strange behavior by now, he would have seriously wondered about her. "You seem jittery today."

"Me? Jittery?" Freddie squawked, desperately reaching for a completely believable reason why he was nervous. "Of course not, I mean it's _only _the very first day of my very first year at Hogwarts, you know! Honestly, Mum, _who_ would be nervous about that?"

Roxanne's grin grew even wider.

Muttering something about how what he had said was completely, undeniably true and that he really _was_ nervous about that particular thing and that he wasn't _lying_ or anything and how Roxanne should _stop _grinning like a_ creep_, Freddie looked around wildly for a way to escape more questions that were jeopardous to his_ mission_.

He sucked in a (hopefully unnoticed) breath of relief when he saw his self-proclaimed favorite cousin making his way towards them. "Oh look, Mum! It's James!"

"Freddie! Weasley! Fred!" James skidded to a stop in front of them, grinning brightly, with his dark hair as disheveled as always. He marched to Freddie, took hold of his arm, and said to Angelina in a visible effort to be the dashing, "Hello, dear Auntie! Mind if I borrow Freddie for a bit?"

Angelina smiled amusedly at him and nodded. "Don't get in trouble now, you hear me?"

The edges of Freddie's lips quirked up. "Yes, ma'am!" He went as far as mock-saluting her with a grin, feeling much better now that his partner-in-crime was by his side.

James nodded vigorously, his eyes shining. "We'll get in no trouble!" He leaned towards Freddie and whispered through the corner of his mouth, "If we're lucky."

Freddie grinned at him and pushed his cart off the platform. James led him to a compartment near the middle of the Express, where he had already unloaded his items.

Attempting to be helpful, James grabbed the cage of Freddie's dozing owl, Alma, setting it down rather roughly. Alma hooted, disgruntled, waking up from her nap. Freddie made a face at James as he dragged his trunk up the steps and inside the small compartment.

As Freddie put his trunk in the corner, James stuck his head out the compartment door, making sure nobody looked like they were planning to eavesdrop.

Freddie rolled his eyes in a way that could have given their Aunt Hermione a run for her money, doubting that anybody on the Express actually suspected them of mischievous doings this early on. And besides, Freddie thought, even if they did, not much could stop James and him when they both got going.

James slammed the door and turned around, satisfied. "Have you got everything?" he asked as he dropped next to Freddie, his boyish voice eager.

"If you were any more excited," Freddie mused aloud thoughtfully,"you'd be bouncing up and down."

James exasperatedly blew a raspberry and nudged him with his shoulder. "C'mon!"

Freddie snickered, and then nodded, holding up a black rucksack with a flourish. "Nicked directly from Dad's storage room!" he declared proudly. He loosened the string with a wide grin and let James bask in the glow of all the pranking materials at their possession.

"Directly?" James stared at the bag and then back at him incredulously. "How'd you get through the―"

"Heh," Freddie said, his cheeks flushing a bit. He scratched the back of his head. "Let's not talk about that." And they would never, ever talk about that, he vowed silently.

James narrowed his eyes. After a second, he crossed his arms, too. "_Freddie._"

Freddie smiled back triumphantly. "You're not wearing Rose's spectacles. That look won't work on me, James."

James huffed in chagrin and said, "You're just intimidated by her and her glasses of doom." He uncrossed his arms with something akin to a pout. "If I had her face you'd cow."

"Honestly James, if _you_ had her face, I would be very scared."

James sighed loudly, sounding very put upon, and tugged on Freddie's arm. "Ready for this, mate?"

Freddie took a minute to answer as he considered whether to tell the truth. "No," he admitted. "This is the biggest thing we've ever done―"

"Bigger than the Diagon Alley frog explosion?" James asked incredulously. "You can't mean that!"

"Okay, very nearly the biggest thing we've ever done," Freddie amended apologetically, because forgetting the Diagon Alley explosion was nearly unforgivable. "And don't forget Albus almost died that time."

James snickered. "No, I told you, you only _thought_ he was dying."

"He swallowed one! For all I knew it closed off his air pipe or something!" Freddie exclaimed. Then he stood up, letting James grab the rucksack and dig through it. "Mum's going to kill me for this. I'll be grounded for weeks!" He scrunched up his eyebrows, disgruntled as he contemplated his mother's reaction to what they were about to do. Torn between his life or his fun. Life or fun, life or fun..

It really was hard to choose.

James smacked his shoulder lightly, smiling. "Think of Uncle George! He'll mellow her out just fine."

Freddie stopped. He seemed to mull it over, but he was smiling. "Right."

* * *

Minutes later, Freddie and James hopped down the train steps wearing matching, wicked grins. Just as they caught sigh of Freddie's family, screams and shouts erupted from behind them. They glanced at each other with delighted expressions and walked faster.

Freddie's mother whipped around from her conversation with George, one of her hands flying to her chest when she saw a few girls run out of the Express covered in sticky, flashing slime, screaming bloody murder. A magically enhanced rubber bat kept swinging around, unrelentingly whacking people on their heads. Plastic snakes slithered in and out of the train windows, and a boy came out, yelling obscenities, covered in rubber spiders.

As Freddie and James looked back to admire their work, they could hear Roxanne laugh and say something about Uncle Ron. George was speaking in a vaguely delighted tone, "That's― It's― Those're mine!"

Angelina's eyes landed on her son.

"Ah, Mum!" Freddie smiled sunnily at her, looking for all the world as innocent as could be. He didn't feel guilty about lying now that it was very obvious he was one of the culprits, and thus was easily playing his part.

Why, Fred Weasley? About yea high, freckled face, red hair? No, he had nothing to do with the commotion behind him. Nothing!

"Freddie, is this your doing?" Angelina asked him, very slowly.

"Did you prank the entire train?" Roxanne asked with a bright grin, her expression a mixture of amusement and pride. It seemed to her that there was no way on earth that he couldn't have done it, and Freddie felt quite satisfied at that. But then he blinked, realizing that they weren't even blaming the person smugly smiling next to him.

"James is right here, you two! He's obviously the guilty one here, look, just look at his face!"

"My face looks perfectly fine," James said loftily, pretending to look affronted. "And what are you pointing that finger at me for? It could've been anyone!"

"You're right," Freddie said, looking horrified. "It could have been―" He pointed at Roxanne. "Dad!" He gasped in betrayal.

"Or Roxanne!" James pointed at Angelina.

"Even Mum!" Fred pointed at George.

They glanced at each other and barely restrained from cackling.

"Oh, you two―!"

George laid his hand on Angelina's shoulder, interrupting her incoming tirade with a lopsided grin. She paused for a bit, taking in his expression. Freddie beamed at his father's grin, James smiled at Freddie, and George turned to both of them. "I take it that nobody saw you do this?"

They shook their heads earnestly.

"Good job, boys!"

"George!" Fred's mum gasped, but it seemed to the boy that she wasn't angry anymore. She glanced at Freddie with a knowing look, one that made his smile falter for a few seconds. But then he kept smiling and pretended not to notice, listening to his dad talk about how he'd made some of the pranks.

"It was because of your Uncle Ron, you know he's been afraid of spiders for so long. During our third year, the first ever Spider Scrabbler for the Creepy Crawlies collection..."

Freddie looked happily on as his dad go on, his face lighting up as he reminisced about Uncle Ron's reaction to the Spider Scrabbler gone haywire during George's third year.

The reason why Freddie was so happy was because his father was quiet, more often that not, even though many people said George had been quite a boisterous person in his youth. Freddie always did his best to cheer George up, to get a laugh or a smile or _anything,_ because he occasionally wore an awfully strained expression that Freddie really couldn't handle.

Sometimes, during one of George's worse days, Freddie received a parody of a smile so wobbly even Roxanne looked like she wanted to blurt out jokes. Freddie had realized long ago that, during spontaneous moments of making pranks and laughter, George seemed more alive, more genuine.

His mother understood that, somehow, which was why he got away with most of what he did with only a stern word or two.

George checked his watch, raising his eyebrows. "Hm. It's almost time for you two to go."

Angelina looked at James with a smile. "Have you said goodbye to your family?"

James nodded. "Three times, in fact. I kept running into them when I was looking for your son over here." He nudged Freddie on the arm, smirking a little. Freddie nudged back.

Angelina gently pushed Freddie's sister towards their direction. Roxanne ran to hug James, then Fredied. "I'll be sure to keep them laughing while you're gone, promise," Roxanne whispered as Fred pulled away from her embrace.

He couldn't help but laugh brightly. "Good luck with that."

She scrunched up her eyes in a smile and stepped back to their parents.

"Well..." Fred looked at them. "Bye!" He hugged his mum and dad quickly, though he hugged George harder. "T-Take care, okay?" Fred looked up at him worriedly. Looking at his father's smiling face, he hoped Roxanne would keep her promise.

George hugged back, placing a kiss on his son's head before the boy could move away. "Yep."

* * *

"Do you think Uncle Neville is going to be scary during class?" James wondered idly. He was lying on his back on the floor of the compartment as if it were a perfectly normal thing to do.

"...That is a terrible question, and you're terrible," Freddie responded in exasperation, leaning on the wall near the compartment window. His legs were propped up on the red seat, and he was trying to pry open a Chocolate Frog box. They had been on the Hogwarts Express for what seemed like _hours_, and they were quickly reaching unacceptable levels of boredom.

"Why?" James petulantly asked. "He could a vampire of a professor! He could be maintaining a soft front so that when the unsuspecting spawn of his friends come into his class he can revel in our shock and misery!" The last words were said with growing, melodramatic alarm, and Freddie's eyebrows twitched as he tried to stop a smile.

"Do you even listen to yourself?" Freddie asked as he finally opened the box. He placed a hand over the opening so that the Frog couldn't leap out.

"Ye-"

"You just voiced the possibility that Uncle Neville has the capacity of being a _mean teacher_, and that his niceness is all but a disguise."

"Well-" James paused, and thought about his words. "Well, if you put it like that, of course it's going to sound odd."

Freddie shot him a Look, at which James couldn't help but grin. He was getting better at those. "It sounded odd when you said it! It would sound odd however you say it!"

"Alright, alright." James moved his hand as if waving away Freddie's words. "Would you hurry up and eat that? It's making weird noises."

Indeed, the Frog had been jumping around in the box, making squishy, scuffling sounds. "Oh!" Freddie said. "It's half-melted."

"Eugh."

Freddie quickly pulled his hand away and popped the Chocolate Frog into his mouth before it could get away, and during the process got an idea fit for an eleven-year-old boy. He leaned over James' face with a chocolatey grin. "I didn't close my mouth," Freddie said childishly as he chewed on it, smacking his lips.

James rolled his eyes. "Stupid."

"Warth womf?" Fred asked, holding out some to his cousin.

To his surprise, James sat up and grabbed one from his hand with a glint in his eye. He opened it easily and started munching on it as loudly as Fred did, if not louder. "Mm," James said around the Frog in his mouth.

Freddie couldn't help but snort, and their eyes met, and their shoulders shook in silent laughter.

The train lurched, causing a boy to stumble backwards into the compartment. Freddie was so startled, he choked on his chocolate, and James laughed at him so hard he started choking as well. The boy took one bewildered look at the pair, gaping chocolate mouths and all, and jumped out of the room.

That sent the duo into another fit of chokes and laughter.

After Freddie had calmed down and swallowed all of his Chocolate Frog, he settled himself more comfortably onto the red plush of his seat. Something gleamed on the floor near the door as he did and caught his eye. He pushed himself off the bench and tilted his head towards it. "James, mate, that yours?"

James, munching on his second Frog, shifted on the bench to get a better look. He turned incredulously raised eyebrows toward his cousin, and swallowed his chocolate. "I didn't bring a shiny, feminine necklace, as you should very well know. Or are you trying to tell me something?"

Freddie grinned and snatched it up. It was an antique locket, made of all silver. The chain was thin, delicate, but as Freddie turned it around in his hand, he had a feeling that it was stronger than it looked. The locket itself was oval in shape, with a strange latch on the side. "Maybe the bloke who fell in dropped it."

James looked at the locket in interest. "Wanna see inside?"

"What? We should give it back..."

"Come on, you never know what kind of pictures are in these things. And maybe it's just a picture of himself, which would help, you know. Do you even remember what he looks like?" James wheedled as he moved to stand next to Freddie, their shoulders touching.

Freddie paused for a second, then shrugged. James had a point. Kind of. He started to fumble with the latch, if it could be called that, and narrowed his eyes in concentration. It was brass and old-looking, and seemed like a turn key that someone would find on a wind-up toy. There were two hooks that looped through a small hole and held tightly on the turn key. Freddie couldn't open it right away, trying to pry the hooks off it. James made an impatient noise.

Finally, it was unlocked, but Freddie didn't really know how he got it to open. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief when he looked inside. It was empty. "All _that_ for nothing. My fingertips are still stinging!"

James tilted his head, frowning slightly in disappointment before noticing something. "Something's engraved on it."

True enough, right above the slot where the picture should have been, three words were inscripted in dainty cursive. "_Ire adcum scire,_" Freddie read out loud. James grabbed Freddie's hand to pull the locket from his grasp and have a look himself.

A beat of silence passed, when not even the sounds of the train reached their ears. They had only glanced at each other before a blinding flash of golden light engulfed the whole room, making Freddie yelp and crash into James.

They stumbled, and Fred heard something suddenly rip, loud enough to be right next to his ear. He could only hope it wasn't James' robes, or else he would have to go to school with them flapping in the wind, his boxers in sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm rather sorry for making you see the Sorting Hat song I made, haha. I'm not the best songwriter!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling, and some parts and dialogue (Hagrid's and McGonagall's) is from HPSS.**

* * *

"Ugh..." Freddie scrambled off of James.

"What have you been_ eating_?" James sat up, his hair looking more ruffled than usual, as if great gusts of wind had blown at his head from all sides. He rubbed his back and shot a sore look at Freddie.

Freddie whipped his head from side to side, trying to spot any differences in their surroundings. "That was strange, you have to admit."

James nodded, his gaze darting around the red and purple compartment in suspicion. "What was that about, d'you think? Nothing happened..." He tried to find anything off as he scouted the room in caution.

Their items were still in the same places they had left them in, nothing was abnormally colored, and their various sweet wrappers had remained unmoved. Alma and James' owl, Jannes, were still there, their wide, intelligent eyes searching the room as well.

Freddie stood up slowly and tried to look if he had sprouted any extra limbs. Nope. He looked at James, but he seemed pretty normal. _Well, _Freddie thought wryly, as normal as James could get, anyway. "What was that light for, I wonder?"

James shrugged and picked up the locket. Then, he pointed accusingly at Freddie. "If anything happens because you were stupid enough to read a spell out loud, so help me..."

"That's unfair, you know! I wasn't even holding my wand, so how could've—"

"It could have been enchanted!" James dangled it between his fingers as he held it up near his face and inspected it closely. "That flash of light did _something_. I know it."

"Maybe the locket was enchanted to make a flash of light?"

"Wow, that isn't useless or anything."

Freddie thumped him on the back of his head.

"Ow! Bloody—"

"I think we should look around the Express," Freddie said suddenly, rubbing his hand. "See if anything is off."

"_Well,_" James said sourly. He started to say something, but then he caught sight of his reflection as the train passed by a particularly dark spot of forest. He looked slightly alarmed, and started patting his hair. "You could have_ told_ me!"

"I didn't notice anything different," Freddie said haughtily, keeping a straight face for a whole two seconds before snorting.

James made a loud, disbelieving noise and glared at the grinning boy. "Why don't _you_ look like a tornado blew through your hair?"

"Maybe this is your true form!"

"_What?_ Maybe you should shut it!"

"Embrace it, James," Freddie snickered. "The mop hair is you!"

He laughed harder as James chased him out the door of their compartment, wailing, "That doesn't even make sense, Freddie, stop it!"

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately." A commanding voice echoing through the train made them both speed up by habit, but then they skidded to a halt.

Freddie and James looked at each other. Compartment doors opened and other students came out, talking amongst each other. Nervous-looking first years whispered to each other, while the upperclassmen talked and laughed loudly, relaxed and waiting to get off. The train slowed down, and then stopped.

The students made their way through the door and onto a small platform. The night was oddly cold. Freddie shivered and rubbed his hands on his robes to warm himself.

James made a strangled sort of noise when he started to do the same thing.

"What is it?" Fred whispered.

"Is it just me, or are my robes different?" James hissed in confusion.

Freddie eyed him, and said doubtfully, "Am I supposed to say yes?"

"Your robes are different too!" James squawked.

Freddie looked down, and blinked. Alright, they didn't look much different, but... He raised an arm and it rubbed strangely on his skin. He ran his fingers on the area of his collar bone and realized that, yes, the design was changed and the sleeves were longer.

Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and they heard a deep, accented voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years c'mover here!" A man's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, and Freddie perked up, and James temporarily stopped with directing suspicious glances at everyone in sight. It was Hagrid! The man visited their houses all the time, occasionally with Madame Maxime. "C'mon, follow me ― any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

They followed the half-giant down a path so steep many of them slipped once or twice. The students could hardly see in front of them, as trees surrounded all of them thickly on both sides, blocking the moonlight. It was quiet, save for some older students whispering in the back. James was giving everyone's robes wary stares and Freddie was wondering if the locket did something to people's sanity. Maybe he should pickpocket it off of James and see if it made any difference.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

Even James seemed to snap out of his crazy, joining with an amazed "Ooh!" of his own.

Freddie gazed in the direction of the school and stood there, stunned. Hogwarts was just as marvelous as the stories his mum and dad had told him, if not even better. The towers and turrets stood high and proud, looking incredibly close to the moon above. The lake ahead twinkled and glittered, reflecting the lights in the windows and the glimmering starlight sprinkled overhead.

The gentle lapping of the lake and the excited murmurs of the other kids made Freddie anxious to get into a boat and get to the other side of the lake already. He could imagine the Quidditch games, the feasts. He could already taste all of the meals of creamy delicious goodness his older cousins had spoken about. Freddie didn't know if they were exaggerating, but his mouth still watered.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Freddie pulled James along, who still looked dumbfounded. Sitting down in the boat Freddie chose, James swayed a little before plunking himself down. "Freddie... It's incredible! Amazing!"

"It is, isn't it?" The corners of Freddie's mouth tugged upward. "Imagine actually living in there."

"Pranking there," James said dreamily.

Freddie widened his eyes. "Yes, I forgot!" He slapped his forehead. "I _forgot!_"

James' glazed, dark brown eyes suddenly cleared and he slapped Freddie's forehead too, albeit lightly. "Forgot? Never forget, you nutter!"

Two other boys settled themselves in their boat, and they all smiled quickly at each other before returning to their own conversations.

"Nutter?" Freddie shot back. "I wasn't the one who turned crazy because of robes!"

James suddenly turned very solemn, which nearly made Freddie laugh. Seriously, James said, "The robes _are_ odd, I swear! They look different!"

Freddie shrugged, "I guess they're itchy now and fit weirdly, James, but maybe that's something the," he lowered his voice, regarding the other boys in the boat, "something the locket did."

James looked dubious. "Everyone's robes are different too."

"Well..." Freddie struggled for an explanation. "Maybe it changed everyone's robes on the train," he said slowly.

James snorted, but didn't say anything else.

The boats lurched forward at Hagrid's yell. Freddie and James sat in silence, relishing the fact that they were really on their way to _Hogwarts_, the place that they had been hearing about their entire lives. Freddie looked down into the dark, navy water and slid his fingers under the surface. It felt silky and cool, and the small ripples he made caused the reflections of the stars to stir.

James suddenly gave a giddy laugh that wasn't too far from maniacal. "Hope we get the same dorm. I'll die if we won't."

"There's a huge chance we won't," Freddie said, frowning. "Aunt Hermione says our year's got a whole lot more students." He pulled his hand from the water, wiping it on his robe.

"Well, you can count on being in the same house."

"Obviously," Freddie mumbled. He shivered, although from the feeling of impending doom or the cold breeze that had gently blown through, he wasn't quite sure.

* * *

Soon the first years were all in an empty chamber in Hogwarts, being lectured by a tall, prim-looking witch whom Hagrid had called Professor McGonagall. James and Freddie tried their best not to act like trouble-makers in front of her; their parents had told them that McGonagall was the Headmistress.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses..." She went on about how the houses of Hogwarts and how the points system worked. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

James ran a hand through his hair, which wasn't the best thing to do, because it made him look messier. Freddie tugged at his robes a bit, then gave up and just watched the door.

When McGonagall came back, she led them to the Great Hall.

When the first years entered, many of them gawked. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and at the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The lights of the candles flickered eerily on the faces of the students watching them and Fred gulped, because older students are always pretty scary. He tried to find Louis, Dominique, Victoire, and Molly for moral support, but he couldn't find them anywhere.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty, and some girls looked at it with pursed lips.

There was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth ― and the hat began to sing, which made incredulous smiles find their ways onto James and Freddie's faces.

_First things first-_

_I am the Sorting Hat!_

_I'm here to find your perks_

_And where you'll fit best at_

_/_

_Will Gryffindor suit you well?_

_Are you daring, loyal, brave?_

_Oh the stories you'll get to tell_

_If it's adventures you crave!_

_/_

_You'll find that your thirst of knowledge_

_Will match those of your friends_

_Creative and witty you'll all be_

_If you to Ravenclaw we send!_

_/_

_Slytherin calls for those_

_Who are cunning, bright, ambitious!_

_If you are pure that's where you'll go_

_Be proud of green and silver!_

_/_

_Loyalty, patience, justice too,_

_Hufflepuff welcomes all!_

_You'll find the friends in there true_

_Fair're those whom they call!_

_/_

_This year will be_

_Oh, you will see_

_Eventful and amazing_

_You'll meet friends, new and old_

_Some with stories so surprising!_

_/_

_Now we must go on_

_To sort all of you_

_Just come up here and fit me on_

_Don't worry, I don't bite_

_(I have no teeth, but if I had-_

_/_

_I might.)_

James and Freddie glanced at each other, grinning at the last part.

The Sorting started.

Freddie watched nervously for a few seconds, and looked at James. He patted him on the back. James was nervous, he could tell, from his fidgeting and tapping fingers. James jumped every time somebody's name was called.

Freddie knew how he felt, thinking that he probably wasn't any better off himself. He was feeling jumpy too, cringing every time the Sorting Hat shouted out houses. Freddie thought James noticed, because his cousin returned the favor and patted his back as well.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Each new housemate was received by cheers. No matter which house, the hollers, whoops, and cheers were deafening. Freddie got more and more aggravated as time passed. After a few minutes which seemed like hours, the roll call was strangely interrupted by the Sorting Hat. "Jorda-"

"Potter, James Sirius!" It barked out. James jumped up.

A number of heads whipped around sharply. Murmurs erupted around the room, and Freddie could see even a few teachers stare at his cousin in alarm and confusion.

"Potter?"

"As in, Harry Potter?"

"No, the hat said James.."

"But, it still said Potter!"

A bearded man looked calmly at James, though a twinkle of curiosity was present in his eyes.

"What in the world..." McGonagall looked mystified.

Freddie looked at everyone in bewilderment. James' dad was Harry Potter, he knew, but did they have to stare at him so... alarmingly? James looked uncomfortable, and even stared at Freddie for a few seconds, but when Freddie shook his head in equal bemusement, he kept walking to the stool. James sat down and put on the hat.

Immediately, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

A smile grew on James' face as he took it off. He sat down at the edge of a bench at the loud, cheering (but still confused) Gryffindor table. Freddie noticed that James made sure to save extra space for him. A few more people were called, but Freddie didn't listen. He kept staring at the spot James had saved for him with all his might, hoping that, for sure, he would be there, right there, soon.

Freddie shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He couldn't be scared, because that isn't what Gryffindors do. He should be brave, daring... "Cheese and crackers," Fred mumbled.

"Wea-" McGonagall started.

"Weasley, Fred!" The Sorting Hat cut her off again. McGonagall stared at the hat like it had gone loopy.

Freddie almost stood up, but to his bewilderment, someone else jumped up with a huge smile on his face. His hair was a fiery red, like Freddie's. He also had freckles, again like Freddie. Freddie wondered if he was related to him, because he sure looked like it. Maybe he was a cousin he had never met?

The other Fred settled on the stool, looking like he was trying with all his willpower to stop from bouncing in excitement. But as soon as he touched the Hat, it snapped at him, "No, not this Fred! The _other _one!"

The boy's (well, Freddie supposed he should say _Fred's_) smile vanished, and he cocked his head in confusion. "Excuse me, sir.. err.. Hat. I don't think-"

"Weasley, Fred!" The Sorting Hat called again. "Come on now, don't be shy! I know you're out there, lad!"

The teachers were starting to stare at the hat in worry and suspicion.

Freddie saw James jerking his head crazily. He took that as a sign that he should speak up. Freddie shakily stood up and walked over to the stool. The boy looked at him, his mouth slightly open.

A boy who looked exactly like the other Fred spoke up. "Blimey, Fred! He looks just like a Weasley!"

"Weren't you listening, I am one!" Freddie cut in.

The other Fred laughed and got off the chair. He bowed with a flourish and held the Sorting Hat out to the other. "To you, my dear lady."

Freddie took it, curtsying jokingly with a grin. "Thank you, milord."

Fred laughed and went back to his seat.

Freddie then sat on the stool, no longer apprehensive. Joking with the other Fred had been rather nice, no matter how short it had been. Perhaps they could be friends, and maybe Freddie could ask if they were related in some way. It sure seemed like it. He placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

"Hmm," a voice whispered. Freddie jerked back and looked around. The Sorting Hat was speaking? Was he the only one who could hear it? Was it telepathic? If that were the case...

_GRYFFINDOR GRYFFINDOR GRYFFINDOR GRYFFINDOR-_

"Yes, that. No need to demand, it's written in your genes, boy."

Freddie felt a smile creep onto his face.

"Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat called out. His new housemates cheered in warm welcome, James being the most enthusiastic. Freddie could hear him shouting over to him as he came, "Told you, told you! Same house!" When Freddie sat down, though, he instantly felt uncomfortable, the breathless excitement leaving in one swoop. James was wearing that familiar grin of his, one that told Freddie that everything was great.

But his eyes told a different story, really.


End file.
